Well, I have to admit I was wrong. I thought the whole owners/players meeting floated by Bettman was a PR stunt, but it sure seems to have gained some major traction.

These guys have gone back and forth with the meetings between themselves and then with their own group, and back again all day and all night. I believe that can only be a good thing. I am not saying it will all be resolved this evening (one can only hope), but this is all very encouraging news.

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzieWhat the NHLPA will like about NHL offer: status quo on UFA and salary arbitration.
What NHLPA may not like about NHL proposal: $300M Make Whole, up from $211M offer, which more or less splits difference on NHLPA ask $393M.
What NHLPA definitely won't like about NHL offer: 5 year term limit on contracts (except 7 for own UFAs), 5% variance, 10 year term for CBA.

My feeling is that Bob McKenzie is being overly pessimistic here. I think the players will be fine with both the "make whole" provision as it is right down the middle, and ultimately will accept the limits on UFA contracts as this follows the NBA model.

It's either that or no season and they will accept the same terms last year (except for "make whole" of course). Because the NHL is not going to cave on that. Not at all.

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzieCouple of other details emerging: NHL proposal for 10 year CBA term contains an opt-out clause after 8 years. So it could be an 8 year deal.
Of the $300M NHL proposed for Make Whole, $250M is Make Whole and $50M is for pension funding that would not come out of the players' share.

My feeling is that Bob McKenzie is being overly pessimistic here. I think the players will be fine with both the "make whole" provision as it is right down the middle, and ultimately will accept the limits on UFA contracts as this follows the NBA model.

It's either that or no season and they will accept the same terms last year (except for "make whole" of course). Because the NHL is not going to cave on that. Not at all.

I haven't been actively following what was actually in proposals for the past few weeks, is that 5 year term limit, but extended to 7 for own UFAs a new thing? I think that's pretty interesting.

Well, I have to admit I was wrong. I thought the whole owners/players meeting floated by Bettman was a PR stunt, but it sure seems to have gained some major traction.

These guys have gone back and forth with the meetings between themselves and then with their own group, and back again all day and all night. I believe that can only be a good thing. I am not saying it will all be resolved this evening (one can only hope), but this is all very encouraging news.

Same here. Was completely wrong it seems about what this meeting was about. When the initial details like Jacobs being a part of the owners side, and that Daly and S. Fehr would be present I figured it had to a PR stunt or some bullying tactic by the NHL... Turns out I was wrong, and this seems like generally good news all around the last couple days.

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I haven't been actively following what was actually in proposals for the past few weeks, is that 5 year term limit, but extended to 7 for own UFAs a new thing? I think that's pretty interesting.

First I've heard of it so it's probably new. Kind of a neat idea giving a team credit for drafting well and finding good young free agents. Of course the player can still refuse to sign a contract extending into those years but it's a neat idea.

Today is a new day and a lot of pessimism is floating around, lots of reporters' tweets thinking its going to blow up again today.

Don't have time this morning to post all the tweets coming out of New York, but its not good, so far.

So ready to go to Staples for banner raising, but who knows now if its going to happen. Hope the winds change course and cooler heads prevail. I will post this one tweet that seems to be part of the issue:

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger A few of the owners pushed hard yest to boost Make Whole to $300 mil to close deal. It wasn't received well which infuriated owners.

The NHL and NHLPA are world class when it comes to not getting a deal done. If there were awards for not making deals, NHL/NHLPA would win it hands down. There are people that get deals done and then there is the NHL and the NHLPA.

Some members of the media need to take a smoke break. They whip themselves up into a frenzy over nothing. They're meeting. They've been meeting for 3 days. Nothing about meetings daily for 8-10 hours is negative in any way.

Some members of the media need to take a smoke break. They whip themselves up into a frenzy over nothing. They're meeting. They've been meeting for 3 days. Nothing about meetings daily for 8-10 hours is negative in any way.